There are plenty of stories where protagonists are attempting to save the world from ending, but even in the Shin Megami Tensei series, SMT3 is somewhat special in that the world ends about 10 minutes into the game. If there's one thing that's done very well, it's the general oppressive and alien feeling of the 'vortex world' that you inhabit after the apocalypse - while many structures and buildings resemble the earth that we know, the layouts and...

Linear visual novels aren't the most appealing form the genre to me, but Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception delivers a compelling story and some "actual" videogame sections which lessen the disappointment of the lack of player choice.

Like many in the genre, initially the plot revolves around slice-of-life daily adventures (often very anime-esque in nature, for better or worse), used as a means to introduce a wide cast gradually, and to grow an attac...

When done right, "belt scrolling beat'em up"s (that's games like Final Fight, or Streets of Rage), are a classic arcade-y experience that are a lot of fun, especially with a 2nd player. Fight'N Rage is up there with the best, with great feeling characters, a good juggling combo system, many branching paths (including slightly different endings), and some head-bopping music. The aesthetic is a saturated splash of dingy neon 90s, filled with...

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Big Order groupwatch chatlogshttps://fluxcore.nz/blog/big-order-groupwatch-chatlogs2018-12-09T17:30:18+13:002018-12-09T17:30:18+13:00
I've managed to sucker a few people into watching the anime "Big Order" a couple of times, and I captured the chatlogs. The show is a complete train-wreck, but surprisingly amusing to watch, especially with other people that are willing to poke fun at it. I re-read this log every so often and I still laugh at how stupid the plot of the show is, and the reactions of those who have never seen it before.

I'm not sure if Berseria is a good entry point to the Tales series, for even after 40 hrs of gameplay, I still didn't have a handle on the combat mechanics. Sure, I won my encounters, but I didn't REALLY understand what caused me to gain certain abilities (The "Soul Gauge" - I never got the names of the various techniques straightened out, either), which were more or less vital to having fun while playing (allowing you to use "Artes"). That's...

Late-era Mega Drive, what a wonderful time. There's something awesome about seeing games pushing consoles to their limits, and the Mega Drive received some doozies.

Comix Zone has some of the best and most imaginative presentation of a game ever produced, even to this day. You are a comic book writer who becomes trapped in his own art - you are playing in comic book panels. The game sections are framed...

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)https://fluxcore.nz/blog/zelda-botw-switch2018-11-18T16:16:59+13:002018-11-18T16:16:59+13:00

Release Date: March 2017

Time to complete: ~45 hrs

I went into Breath of the Wild somewhat reluctantly, being in general completely tired of "open-world" games, and also considering my only other experience with a 3D Zelda title being Ocarina of Time, which I gave up on at the first boss - I couldn't get my head around the camera controls. Truth be told, 3D cameras and I still don't get along very well, plenty of 3D games put me off due to the camera systems. I didn't really have any problem...

Another visual novel with another gimmick game mechanic: this time you are a bartender and mix drinks to satisfy customers. Usually they will ask specifically for what they want, but sometimes aren't so sure - and in these cases it's up to you to come up with a beverage that will suit them. Some of your ending scenes are predicated on serving them appropriate drinks, while major game milestones rely on you having gained enough money from your job...

You are a ghost investigating the cause of your murder - with special powers you've gained once becoming an apparition. Manipulating objects is somewhat within your powers - when your 'core' inhabits an item, you may interact with it, turning on switches, pushing small balls etc - but far more important is your ability to rewind time to just before the death of any corpse you come across. Zip back to 4 minutes before their demise, and attempt to c...

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Root Double: Before Crime * After Days (PS Vita)https://fluxcore.nz/blog/root-double%20%28ps%20vita%292018-10-06T17:32:48+13:002018-10-06T17:32:48+13:00

Released: June 2012

Time to complete: ~35 hrs

Your team of emergency rescue agents are sent into a possible meltdown event at a nuclear reactor and are tasked with assessing the situation and rescuing any survivors. Even with such an unfathomable situation as that, it still doesn't work out as could be expected, and clearly some of the workers are not simply doing their jobs, and civilians trapped in the building are not there by chance.